S&P 500 
U.S. stocks continued their winning streak (S&P500: +0.39 percent WTD), albeit at a a lower pace, thanks to better-than-expected consumer confidence data and GDP which topped growth expectations for the fourth quarter, rising by 2.6 percent. In addition, Jerome Powell’s somewhat dovish testimony before the Senate Banking Committee reaffirmed that the Federal Reserve is likely to pause on future interest rate hikes. Europe (MSCI EMU: +1.33 percent) and China (MSCI All China+HK+Taiwan: +2.58 percent) outperformed the U.S. on signs that their economies may be bottoming out. Notwithstanding these latest gains, technical indicators show that stocks have reached strong resistance levels.
Among sectors, the best performers of the week were technology (S&P information technology: +1.65 percent) and energy stocks (+1.03 percent) despite the roller coaster ride of oil prices (WTI eventually down 2.55 percent). By contrast materials stocks lagged (-1.63 percent). It is also noteworthy that consumer discretionary stocks managed to finish the week into positive territory (only +0.15 percent) though Home Depot dragged the sector index lower after the company blamed bad weather for missing Wall Street’s forecast by a broad margin.
On the interest rate front, the 10-Year US and German Treasuries edged lower, their yields rising by 10bps and 8bps respectively.
Find the full report here : https://www.trackinsight.com/weekly-flow-report/2019-03-01/global
